Vettori sticks with McCullum

Reuters

LONE HAND: New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori's frustration is evident as he battles, almost singlehandedly, to keep his side in the first test against Bangladesh. The left arm spinner has already taken nine wickets in the match as well as compiling an unbeaten half century in NZ's poor first innings total.

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New Zealand are sticking to their guns over the flawed experiment of using wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum as a specialist test batsman.

Skipper Daniel Vettori, looking understandably downcast after New Zealand's 149 run first test loss to Australia, said McCullum would almost certainly remain at No 5 despite his double failure at the Gabba.

"I think so," Vettori said.

"It is one of those mid-series things that is tough to change but you are always re-investigating things.

"When you make changes you want them to work and initially Brendon did really well in England.

"Obviously he is frustrated at his results since then but he is the sort of guy who wants responsibility and he wants those challenges and we've seen what happened in the one-day game (moved up to opening) so I suppose I like those guys who want to be in the fight. "So it's always there but I would prefer to see him bat No 5 at this stage."

McCullum scored eight and three, lasting a total of 14 balls though he was the recipient of a poor umpiring decision in the second innings.

But the issue is not so much his lack of runs at the Gabba, more the need to find a gritty batsman to break up all the flashy types and for McCullum to bring back some bite into the lower order.

Vettori was pulling his hair out after New Zealand lost a test they could so easily have won.

Jesse Ryder dropped a crucial catch early on Saturday, the pacemen ran out of steam and Australia's lower order rallied around centurymaker Simon Katich (131 not out).

It left New Zealand chasing an improbable 327 for victory, a target they never threatened after another batting meltdown.

New Zealand was dismissed 50 minutes into the fourth day for 177 with Ross Taylor top scoring with a typically boundary laden 75.

"We are always going to look back on it and be disappointed," Vettori said, stating the obvious.

The skipper has no answer for the batting crisis, but predicts there will be long term gain after short term gain given the quality of Taylor, Jesse Ryder, Jamie How and the find of the test Daniel Flynn.

Together with rookie opener Aaron Redmond, they started the test with a combined total of 36 caps and two centuries (both to Taylor) between them.

By comparison Australia's specialist batsmen Matthew Hayden, Simon Katich, Ricky Ponting, Mike Hussey and Michael Clarke have a combined total of 319 caps and 88 centuries.

"It's been a problem well before I was captain," Vettori said.

"A lot of guys have looked at it and tried to find ways to redeem it. I look at the guys and know they are extremely talented but we've got to turn that talent into a consistent performance and unfortunately we are not getting that."

Vettori deserves credit for the selection of Tim Southee over Kyle Mills but conceded the other clutch call where Grant Elliott was preferred over Peter Fulton was open to further debate.

"I didn't look to Grant at all as a bowler, I know he bowled some overs but he was there as a batter, who was used to batting in that lower middle order. Grant will be disappointed he didn't get the runs he wanted," Vettori said.

Vettori confirmed he was seriously considering the two spin option of himself and Jeetan Patel in the second test in Adelaide.

For that to happen New Zealand will have to drop a seamer (probably Tim Southee) and ask Ryder to bowl a dozen overs.

"He (Ryder) only wants to bowl one over a time so it is not easy," Vettori joked.

"But yes he has the talent there. You face him in the nets and you see he has something a little bit special and you look at his first class stats (41 wickets at 26.340 and they are pretty reasonable so he is used to bowling long spells even though he won't admit so we can get more out of him."

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shaun   #15   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

McCullum is far too good to be a one day specialist - you try and tell me another player let alone wicketkeeper that could come in and do what he does. He is the 2nd best player in the team in my opinion behind Vettori and is invaluable when in form

dennis   #14   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

As usual the same excuses for our dismal batting are dragged out, why not face up to the fact that we are just not good enough. NZ is 7 in world rankings just above Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. Who was our last world ranked top batsman? Martin Crowe whose average is so far ahead of the next best its out of sight. Face it we are always going to be in the bottom half, we haven't got the goods, simple as that.

MikeW   #13   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

Bring back Fleming and Vincent, they are both far too young to have retired and really should be on the scene for another 4 years at least. If they still have the ability to perform until they are 40 then we should be utilizing that batting talent, especially since NZC has so little of it.

Fleming was near his best when he retired earlier this year, and as a cricket fan this was so fustrating!

Duncan   #12   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

One question. Was Adam Gilchrist ever selected as a batter in tests?. NO.

David   #11   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

NZ again have shown a lack of mental toughness in their batting. We haven't really dug in since Steve Rixon was coach. Will this change in the next test? I doubt it.

I can't wait for Bracewell to leave because I doubt that he is adding anything to the team. People claim that he is a great one day coach, but even that record has disappeared since Stephen Flaming retired.

rob   #10   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

McCullum is not a number 5 in tests. Anyone with any knowhow can tell you that. He cant curb his natural instincts as an ODI player. Definitely back down to number 7. Use him like Gilchrist for Aussie. Plus with the lack of ability in the top 5 to stay in for longer than 20 overs it will protect him just that little bit longer against the new ball.

As always its a mental thing for NZ batsmen. I say look back in Matthew Hayden's history to see if he had a kiwi grandmother too.. he will get dropped soon and maybe we can pick him up??

Joe   #9   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

McCullum's not a number 5 They should bat him at 7, drop Elliot and bring in Fulton at 5 We lacked a batsman in Brisbane and costed us Also Bracewell turned our test team in the wrong direction. Adequate one-day coach but not for our test team. We've lost several players because of him, i.e. Fleming, Astle, Vincent, Bond, just to name a few

0 not out   #8   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

Our bowling is not a problem as we got the 20 Aussie wickets inside 2 1/2 days and you have to be happy with rolling the aussies for 214 and 260 odd.

As for the batting, clearly we need Fulton in there to strengthen up our batting line up. Fulton seems to like playing the Aussies with quite a few 50s in ODIs. Elliot doesnt have the shots and is not up to international standard in my opinion.

Mental application IS the key. Flynn was impressive in the first innings. You dont need to play way outside off.

Im still not convinced Redmond is the man to open with How. He has had more than enough opportunites, again not enough shots and he is the most boring batsman to watch, especially with a strike rate of about 20 against Bangladesh! But who else do we have? Perhaps we could go back to Bell, sure he has been tried but he has a much better first class record than Redmond.

matthew   #7   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

Definitely not time to make him a one day specialist, who else would replace him at test level, Hopkins? We need him at 7 and bring in Fulton.

DC   #6   05:26 pm Jan 28 2009

McCullum at 7 and Vettori at 8 gives the side a much more balanced look. Having your wicketkeeper at 5 puts far too much pressure on the first 4 and the results are showing this. My team: How, Redmond, Taylor, Flynn, Ryder, Fulton, McCullum, Vettori, O'Brien, Southee or Patel and Martin. This mixes the dashers with the more stable heads

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